Method for transmitting data, particularly having multimedia contents, in a mobile communication network

ABSTRACT

A method is provided for transmitting data, particularly having multimedia contents, from a first communications unit to a second communications unit ( 40; 114 ) in a telephone communications network, whereby at least one transmission status message assigned to the data is transmitted to the first communications unit. In the event that data cannot be delivered to the second communications unit, an item of information concerning a non-deliverability of the sent data is provided in the transmission status message.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.10/511,056 filed Oct. 11, 2004, which is a U.S. national stageapplication of International Application No. PCT/DE03/01064 filed Apr.1, 2013, which designates the United States of America, and claimspriority to German application Ser. No. 102 15 567.4 filed Apr. 9, 2002,the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method for transmitting data,particularly having multimedia contents, from a first communicationsunit to a second communications unit in a mobile communication network,whereby at least one transmission status message assigned to the data istransmitted to the first communications unit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Current mobile communication networks, such as networks operatingaccording to the GSM standard (GSM: Global System for MobileCommunication), offer only limited possibilities for transmittingtextual data. Thus, for example, only text messages having up to 160characters can be transmitted via the SMS (Short Message Service). Thecost of sending text messages of this type has to be born by the senderof the data.

In the future, the transmission of multimedia data, particularly imagesor films with or without audio, also will be possible. The successors tothe essentially voice/text-based telecommunications systems, such asthose defined by the GSM standard, for example, are seen inmultimedia-capable mobile communication systems, such as those definedby the UMTS standard (UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System).The UMTS or GPRS standard envisions providing, for example, in additionto the current SMS, a so-called MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) fortransmitting messages may include multimedia contents, also referred toas “Multimedia Messages” (MMs). Formatted text, images, videos and filmswith and without audio also can be transmitted in this way. Therestriction to a message length of 160 characters present in the SMSdoes not apply.

According to the state of the art, the MMS can be implemented by way ofthe WAP (Wireless Application Protocol), for example. For the purposesof bridging the air interface between an MMS-enabled terminal, such as acorresponding mobile phone, and the “WAP Gateway” on the network side,the employment of the WAP-WSP (WSP: Wireless. Session Protocol) [6] canbe used according to [2].

For purposes of the internal management of such MMS-over-WAPtransmissions, use is made of so-called “header fields”, that is to say,fields placed in advance of the actual multimedia message (MM) which cancontain items of information concerning origin, transmission time, filesize and other details, for example.

If the MMS is implemented by way of the WAP in a mobile communicationnetwork, at least one MMS connection unit or MM switching arrangement isprovided within the network which takes over the handling of the MMs inthat mobile communication network. This includes, for example, theswitching of the MMs between the sender and the recipient and theintermediate storage of the MMs.

In this respect, the sender first sends a message (MM) to the MMSconnection unit, whereby the sender or the MMS connection unit canconfer a period of validity on the message, after the expiration ofwhich the corresponding MM can no longer be downloaded from the MMSconnection unit by the recipient. The recipient receives the item ofinformation concerning the period of validity until the expiration ofthe MM together with the MMS recipient notification which is sent to therecipient or the receiving MMS user application by the MMS connectionunit.

A number of statuses which describe the transmission status of amultimedia message (MM) is known from the MMS specification [2, 5].Various statuses can indicate, for example, whether an MM has beentransmitted successfully (status: “Retrieved”), whether the MM has beenrejected by the recipient (status: “Rejected”), whether the recipienthas received the notification concerning the arrival of the MM in itsmailbox and can download the message later (status: “Deferred”), whetherthe recipient has been able to recognize the MM (status: “Unrecognized”)and whether the recipient has not downloaded the MM within a definableperiod of validity and therefore received it in full (status:“Expired”).

These statuses can be sent to the first telecommunications apparatus bythe switching arrangement in response to a request for a transmissionstatus message. These messages can be sent either following anacknowledged recipient notification message, following the successfuldelivery of an MM or following the expiration of the period of validityof the MM.

If the sender of an MM receives the requested MMS transmission statusmessage relating to a message which it has sent, such sender cannotdecide in the event of the received status “expired,” for example,whether the recipient has intentionally not downloaded the sent MM fromthe MMS connection unit or whether the recipient was just not availablewithin the period of validity of the MM and therefore the MM could notbe delivered. The sender therefore has no way of deciding whether itshould possibly send the corresponding MM again with an increased periodof validity so that the MM can reach the recipient.

An object of the present invention is, therefore, to offer thetransmitter or sender of data, particularly of a multimedia message(MM), a more detailed item of information concerning the deliverabilityof the data which it has sent.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the case of a method for transmitting data, particularly havingmultimedia contents, from a first communications unit to a secondcommunications unit in a telecommunications network, at least onetransmission status message assigned to the data is transmitted to thefirst communications unit; for example, following the sending of a datatransmission. Furthermore, in the event of the non-deliverability of thedata to the second communications unit, an item of informationconcerning the non-deliverability of the sent data is provided in thetransmission status message.

The method according to the present invention enables the firstcommunications unit or a sender of data to recognize the fact that thedata which it has sent could not be delivered to the secondcommunications unit or an envisioned recipient. According to the methodsknown in the state of the art, a sender of data has not been able torecognize up until now whether the data could not be delivered to arecipient due to an incorrect recipient address, for example, or whetherthe recipient did not wish to receive the data. This item of informationis important to the sender of the data since in the first case it couldattempt to transmit the data again, whereas in the second case such arepeat transmission is not worthwhile since the recipient already hasconsciously decided not to opt to receive the data.

To ensure that the data to be transmitted is kept up to date, the senderof the data can define a period of validity within which the data mustbe delivered to the recipient. The method according to the presentinvention can, therefore, be advantageously configured in such a waythat the item of information concerning the non-deliverability of thesent data is provided in the transmission status message if the data hasnot been delivered to the second communications unit within the definedperiod of validity. In this case, the sender of the data can decide,given the non-deliverability of the data, whether to send the data tothe second communications unit (recipient) again or whether the data isalready no longer up to date and therefore should no longer be used.

One possible way of recognizing the non-deliverability of the data sentto the second communications unit consists in implementing so-calledconfirmation messages within a data transmission protocol which is usedin the case of the transmission of data between the first and secondcommunications units. Via such confirmation messages, the recipient ofdata or messages notifies the sender or, in some circumstances, possibleswitching centers provided in the data transmission path of the factthat it has correctly received the data or messages. “Correctlyreceived” refers to, particularly in connection with the presentdescription, the recipient or the second communications unit being ableto fully recognize the content of the data or messages transmitted. Itis therefore possible to define, in the case of the method according tothe present invention, that non-deliverability of the data sent appliesif the correct receipt of the data sent and/or the receipt of arecipient notification message relating to the data to be transmitted tothe second communications unit is not acknowledged by the secondcommunications unit via a respectively associated confirmation message.It should be noted that the recipient notification message involves amessage to the second communications unit to notify the communicationsunit that data is to be transmitted to it.

Telecommunications systems can provide for the eventuality that datafrom a sender is not forwarded directly to a recipient, but that therecipient first receives a notification that the wish exists to senddata to it. Following the receipt of such a recipient notificationmessage, the recipient can then choose whether it would like to receivethe data or have it delivered immediately or later, or whether it isopting to decline to receive the data.

To ensure efficient data transmission between the first and secondcommunications units, the telecommunications network may include aswitching arrangement as defined by a further advantageousconfiguration, by way of which the data is transmitted from the firstcommunications unit to the second. In this respect, the switchingarrangement can be embodied in such a way that it is capable ofestablishing the non-deliverability of the data sent; for example, byinterrogating or capturing confirmation messages. It should be notedthat if a switching arrangement receives data from the firstcommunications unit, it can inform the second communications unit ofthis with the above-mentioned recipient notification message.Furthermore, it can be the task of such a switching arrangement to sendthe transmission status message to the first communications unit and,therefore, to inform it of the status of the data to be transmitted.Such a switching arrangement within the telecommunications network canbe provided, for example, in a switching node of the network but, forexample, the switching arrangement also can be distributed across anumber of switching nodes or implemented in units which otherwisepossess no switching node properties but are still incorporated in thetelecommunications network.

The most diverse data, particularly having multimedia contents, can besent particularly effectively by using the “Multimedia MessagingService” (MMS), which provides a defined standard for formatting andsending messages and data with multimedia contents (MMs: MultimediaMessages) [1, 2]. The MMS can be implemented advantageously by using the“Wireless Application Protocol” (WAP) [3, 4, 5, 6]. The WAP offers thepossibility of transmitting the most diverse types of data, such astexts, images, videos and/or audio data, for example, and also of beingable to access the Internet in an efficient manner in mobilecommunication networks. More precise explanations of how data can betransmitted via MMS over WAP can be found, for example, in thereferences [3, 4, 5] relating to this description.

In the case of the use of multimedia messages of the MMS over WAP,various data transfer and message transmissions are provided. Within theWAP protocol, as outlined in reference 5 relating to this description,each of these transmission types is described via a data field“X-Mms-Message-Type” within the message.

Thus, within the method according to the present invention, a recipientnotification message would be an MMS-over-WAP message in the category“m-notification.ind” [5].

The transmission of multimedia messages with the WAP protocol providesfor the handling and the intermediate storage of the multimedia messagevia a switching center referred to as an “Mms-Relay/Server.” From this,for example, data to be transmitted is sent to the recipient.

Within the method according to the present invention, the transmissionof the multimedia message to the recipient preferably has the WAPcategory “m-retrieve.conf,” as described in reference [5].

The transmission status message according to the present invention tothe sender of the data to be transmitted then can be assigned to thecategory “m-delivery.ind” in line with the WAP protocol.

Within the WAP protocol, a field with the designation “X-Mms-Status” canbe provided in transmission status messages of the type“m-delivery.ind,” in which the transmission status of the data to besent is recorded. A number or digit combination assigned to“non-deliverability” is advantageously recorded in this field in themethod according to the present invention if non-deliverability of thedata to the second communications unit applies. In the context of theparameters known to date, the value “<Octet 133>” particularly can beused for this.

Telecommunications devices with a mobile communication module can beused as communications units in the context of the present invention.These can constitute mobile telephones, for example, or even PCs(Personal Computers), laptops, palmtops, organizers or PDAs (PDA:Personal Digital Assistant) which include a mobile telecommunicationsmodule or, for example, are connected to a mobile telephone by way of awire connection or a wireless local network (e.g., Bluetooth, infraredinterface).

The telecommunications network can be embodied as a mobile communicationnetwork at least in areas. The mobile communication network and/or thecommunications units can be embodied, for example, as per one of thecustomary mobile communication standards, such as the GSM standard, theGPRS standard, the EDGE standard, the UMTS standard or one of thevarious CDMA standards, for example. The fact that thetelecommunications network can be embodied as a mobile communicationnetwork at least in areas results in at least one part of thetransmission path between the first telecommunications unit and thesecond running within mobile communication network. Further parts of thetransmission path can run, for example, on the Internet, in datanetworks and/or in fixed telecommunications networks or in combinationsthereof. But it is also possible for the telecommunications network tobe embodied entirely as a mobile communication network or a combinationof various mobile communication networks.

As defined by a further aspect of the present invention, a switchingarrangement is created for transmitting data in a telecommunicationsnetwork from a first communications unit to a second communicationsunit, whereby the switching arrangement included an apparatus forproducing or generating a transmission status message which is assignedto the data to be transmitted to the second communications unit, wherebythe apparatus for producing the transmission status message furthermoreintegrates an item of information concerning the non-deliverability ofthe data to be transmitted into the transmission status message if thedata cannot be delivered to the second communications unit.

It is possible with the switching arrangement described to notify thesender, or the first communications unit, of a message if data which ithas sent to a recipient, or the second communications unit, could not bedelivered to the recipient at all. The sender can then decide, forexample, to send the corresponding data again. Compared with thecurrently known state of the art on this matter, the sender is thereforegiven the opportunity to distinguish the non-availability of a recipientfrom the status in which the recipient has not called up data providedfor it, since it did not wish to receive the messages or was simplyprevented from calling up the data (for example, due to technicalproblems).

To ensure that the data to be sent has the most up-to-date statuspossible, it is possible to provide for the apparatus for producing thetransmission status message of the switching arrangement to provide theitem of information concerning the non-deliverability of the data to betransmitted in the transmission status message if the data cannot bedelivered to the second communications unit within a definable period ofvalidity. Such a period of validity can be defined, for example, by thesender of the data or even within the telecommunications network (via adefault setting, for example). A period of validity also may be storedin the user profile of an envisioned recipient of the data, for example.The introduction of a period of validity following which data to be sentis no longer delivered to a recipient makes sure that only up-to-datedata is ever waiting to be transmitted. This prevents mobilecommunication networks or their switching arrangements being burdened oreven overburdened by old, no longer up-to-date messages, for example.

If it has received the recipient notification message, the messagetransmission or multimedia message, the recipient can notify theswitching arrangement that it has received the message (correctly).“Correctly” in this connection means, as already mentioned in theforegoing, that it can fully recognize the content of the respectivemessages. If a user has not switched its telecommunications device onover a complete period, for example, or if it is nonoperational, theswitching arrangement will not receive any confirmation message relatingto corresponding transmissions to the second communications unit.

The establishment of when “non-deliverability” of the data sent appliescan apply with regard to the switching arrangement if the correctreceipt of the data sent or of a recipient notification message to thesecond communications unit relating to the data sent is not acknowledgedvia a respective associated confirmation message. It can be provided inthe switching arrangement, for example, that the data to be transmittedis placed in intermediate storage in the switching arrangement and theenvisioned recipient is only informed via a notification (the recipientnotification message) that a message, for example with correspondingmultimedia data, is ready for it.

In the event that the recipient, particularly following the transmissionof a recipient notification message, does not wish to receive theassigned message, the correct receipt of the recipient notificationmessage would indeed be acknowledged by the second communications unitbut, subsequently, the transmission of the actual message not requested.No delivery takes place, therefore, in spite of notification of thesecond communications unit concerning data or messages to betransmitted.

To inform the sender (the first communications unit) concerning therespective transmission status of the data which it has sent, it ispossible to provide for the switching arrangement to include anapparatus for transmitting the transmission status message to the firstcommunications unit. For example, the switching arrangement can send thetransmission status message direct to the sender of the relevant data oreven by way of another switching arrangement. But the transmissionstatus message also could be transmitted to a message store (a so-called“Mailbox”) of the sender of the data, for example, from which it thencan call up the transmission status message.

Additional features and advantages of the present invention aredescribed in, and will be apparent from, the following DetailedDescription of the Invention and the figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a telecommunications systemfor transmitting multimedia messages (MMs).

FIG. 2 shows a chart representing the flow of information in the case ofthe sending of an MM within the WAP.

FIG. 3 shows possible statuses of the X-Mms-Status of an“m-delivery.ind” transmission confirmation message for a multimediamessage over WAP.

FIG. 4 shows an example of an “m-delivery.ind” transmission confirmationmessage for an MMS message over WAP.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows an MMS network architecture according to the present-daystate of the art as defined by 3GPP (ref. [1, 2]). As a first MMS userapplication A (MMS User Agent A) 10, an application is shown, forexample on a mobile communication device which corresponds to a firstcommunications unit or on a device connected to a mobile communicationdevice (e.g., laptop or similar) which implements the MMS. Furthermore,a first MMS connection unit 20 is shown, for example in the form of aso-called “MMS-Relay/Server” which makes the MMS functionality availableto the MMS user applications within an area of responsibility MMSE(MMSE: Multimedia Messaging Service Environment) 22 of an MMS ServiceProvider A. According to the state of the art, there is only one MMSconnection unit 20 per MMSE 22 in each case. The MMS connection unit 20of the Service Provider A is connected to a further MMS connection unit30 of a Service Provider B which, in turn, is in contact with arecipient 40. This recipient 40 is represented by a second MMS userapplication B (MMS User Agent B) 40 which similarly represents anapplication; for example, on a mobile communication device whichcorresponds to a second communications unit.

A multimedia message is transmitted from the sender 10 to thecorresponding connection unit 20 of its Service Provider A 22. Since therecipient of the message 40 is located in an area of responsibility 32of the second Service Provider B, the multimedia message is conveyed tothe connection unit 30 responsible for the second area of responsibility32. The message is then forwarded by this switching unit to therecipient of the multimedia message 40.

The connections between the sender 10, the MMS connection unit A 20, theMMS connection unit B 30 and the recipient 40 are shown with an outgoingand an incoming arrow, in each case, in FIG. 1 to document the fact thatin the case of the forwarding of the message, corresponding receiptconfirmation messages are also sent back to the respective senders(sender 10, MMS connection unit A 20 and MMS connection unit 30). Itshould be noted that the MMS connection units 20 and 30 can be used asone switching arrangement.

An example of the course of a transmission of a multimedia message froma sender 110 (e.g., corresponding to the sender 10 in FIG. 1) to arecipient 114 (e.g., corresponding to the recipient 40 in FIG. 1) by wayof an MMS switching unit 112 (e.g., corresponding to one or both unit(s)20, 30 in FIG. 1) is shown in detail in FIG. 2. Diagram 2 shows amessage flow chart according to the present-day state of the art asdefined by [4], whereby the exchange of the WAP messages or WAP items ofinformation between three participating entities (the MMS userapplication A (M-UA-A) 110, the MMS switching unit (M-SR) 112 and theMMS user application B (M-UA-B) 114) is shown in the case of the sendingor receipt of an MM. The sender of the data 110 includes at least onetelecommunications device and similarly the recipient includes atelecommunications device. As already mentioned, thesetelecommunications devices can be embodied, for example, as customaryhandsets or as devices with further input or display functions, such aslaptops with a mobile communication module, for example.

The exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 2 shows the transmission of MMsby using the WAP standard as is used, for example, in the case of thetransmission of image data, video data, audio data and formatted textdata in the UMTS standard (UMTS: Universal Mobile TelecommunicationStandard). However, the present invention is also correspondinglytransferable to other telecommunications standards, such as GSM or DECT(DECT: Digital European Cordless Telephone), for example.

The items of information or messages which are shown with arrows in theflow chart in Diagram 2 are exchanged between the three participatingentities 110, 112, 114. A multimedia message (MM) essentially consistsof a header and optionally a body, which can contain the multimediaobjects.

A multimedia message (MM) composed in or to be forwarded by way of thetelecommunications device of the sender 110 can contain one or moreunits or objects; for example, individual images, film sequences, textsor similar. As shown in FIG. 2, the MM is sent first to the Provider/theswitching unit 112 as a request transmission (this bears the name“M-Send.req” in the WAP protocol). From there, the MM received isacknowledged to the sender 110 with a return transmission “M-Send.conf”.

Thereafter, a recipient notification message “M-Notificaton.ind” is sentto the envisioned recipient 114 by the switching unit 112, with whichthe recipient is informed of the fact that an MM is ready fordownloading for it at the switching unit 112. In this respect, theswitching unit 112 receives the acknowledging reply message or recipientnotification message “M-NotifyResp.ind”, from the telecommunicationsdevice 114 of the recipient automatically, for example, if the recipienthas correctly received the recipient notification message.

Only upon request by the recipient 114 with the request message “WSPGET.req” is the MM forwarded to the recipient by the switching unit 112with the MM transmission “M-Retrieve.conf”.

A further receipt confirmation message, this time m the category“M-Acknowledge.ind,” acknowledges the receipt of the MM.

Finally, if so wished by the sender 110, the switching unit 112 sends amessage “M-Delivery.ind,” concerning the status of the delivery of theMM, to the sender. It should be noted that in this respect thetransmission status message is generated by a first apparatus (notshown) of the switching unit 112, which is provided for the purpose, andis then sent by a second apparatus (also not shown), which is providedfor the purpose, from 112 to the sender 110. In this respect, themessage “M-Delivery.ind” in the WAP protocol, to which the presentexample refers, contains a status field (“X-Mms-Status”) 210 (FIG. 3)which describes the status of the MM upon the sending of the statusmessage “M-Delivery.ind”.

FIG. 3 shows, in general terms, the possible statuses 212 of the statusfield “X-Mms-Status” 210 in the message of the type “M-Delivery.ind”which is explained in detail in FIG. 4. A number of statuses arecurrently defined in the MMS specification [2, 5] which are transmittedin an MMS delivery status notification or transmission status messages“M-Delivery.ind.” The various statuses indicate whether the MM has beentransmitted successfully to the recipient (status: “retrieved”), whetherthe MM has been rejected by the recipient (status: “rejected”), whetherthe recipient has received the notification concerning the arrival ofthe MM in its mailbox and can download it later (status: “deferred”),whether the recipient has not recognized the MM (status: “unrecognized”)and whether the recipient has not downloaded the MM within the period ofvalidity and has therefore not received it in full (status: “expired”).

According to the present invention, the status field “X-Mms-Status” canalso take on a status “undeliverable.” The new status (“undeliverable”)is placed in the requested transmission status message “M-Delivery.ind”by the MMS connection unit 112 (see FIG. 2) if an MM could not bedelivered within its period of validity, that is to say that theconnection unit has not received either the (first) receipt confirmationmessage “M-NotifyResp.ind” or the second receipt confirmation message“M-Acknowledge.ind” for the MM transmission from the recipient. As suchneither the MMS recipient notification message (M-Notification.ind) northe MM transmission (M-retrieve.conf) has reached the recipientcorrectly. (

FIG. 3 similarly shows how the corresponding statuses of the“X-Mms-Status” register in the present example are encoded within thesystem. Thus, the values “<Octet 128>” to “<Octet 132>” are assigned tothe known statuses “Expired” to “Unrecognized,” whereas the status“Undeliverable” is represented with the value “<Octet 133>” within thesystem.

FIG. 4 shows a transmission status message m the category“M-delivery.ind” as sent to the sender 10, 110 of a multimedia messageby means of the WAP protocol. The header shows that the message is beingsent from the switching unit 20, 30, 112 to the sender 10, 110. A firstdata field “X-Mms-Message-Type” shows what type of message it is. Inthis case, it is the notification of the sender of the MM concerning thetransmission status of the MM message, which is categorized within theWAP protocol with “m-delivery.ind”. The next data field, which isdesignated as “X-Mms-version,” documents the version of the MMS WAPprotocol being used. The following field with the designation“X-Mms-Message-ID” records the internal number of the multimedia message(MM) to which the transmission status message refers. The field with thedesignation “To” contains the recipient, while the date field with thedesignation “Date” contains the date on which the multimedia message waslast handled. For example, this can be the date of transmission to therecipient, the date of rejection or even the expiration date of theperiod of validity of the transmission to the recipient. The last fieldin this transmission status message with the designation “X-Mms-Status”shows the actual transmission status of the multimedia message. In thepresent example, the MM is not capable of being forwarded to therecipient or not deliverable; i.e., the recipient has not acknowledgedthe recipient notification message or even a number of recipientnotification messages, for example, because its telecommunicationsdevice was never switched on or is faulty, for example.

The present invention describes a method for transmitting data,particularly having multimedia contents, from a sender to a recipient,whereby the non-deliverability of the data to the recipient is notifiedto the sender if the message which the sender has sent is notdeliverable. Where relevant, the sender can then send the message again.This allows efficient handling of multimedia messages since, forexample, the message would only be sent a second time in the case ofnon-deliverability and not in the case that the recipient does not wantdelivery. This distinction was not possible in the current state of theart.

Although the present invention has been described with reference tospecific embodiments, those of skill in the art will recognize thatchanges may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention as set forth in the hereafter appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for operating a switching arrangementfor handling data having multimedia content transmitted from a firstcommunications unit to a second communications unit in a communicationsnetwork, the method comprising: determining, in the event that the datahas not been delivered to the second communications unit, a non-deliveryreason from at least two reasons, wherein the at least two reasons arethat the switching arrangement could not deliver the data to the secondcommunications unit and that the data could be delivered to the secondcommunications unit but was not received by the second communicationunit; and transmitting a transmission status message to the firstcommunications unit, the transmission status message indicating, basedupon the determining, said non-delivery reason.
 2. The method of claim 1wherein the determining a non-delivery reason from at least two reasonscomprises determining whether the data was not delivered to the secondcommunications unit within a period of validity.
 3. The method of claim1 further comprising transmitting a recipient notification message fromthe switching arrangement to the second communications unit; and whereindetermining a non-delivery reason from at least two reasons comprisesdetermining whether the recipient notification message from theswitching arrangement to the second communications unit was acknowledgedby the second communications unit.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein thedetermining a non-delivery reason from at least two reasons furthercomprises determining whether correct receipt of the data sent to thesecond communications unit was not acknowledged by the secondcommunications unit.
 5. The method of claim 2 wherein the period ofvalidity is received by the switching arrangement from the firstcommunication unit.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the determining anon-delivery reason from at least two reasons further comprisesdetermining whether correct receipt of the data sent to the secondcommunications unit was acknowledged by the second communications unit.7. The method of claim 1 further comprising the switching arrangementtransmitting a message to the second communications unit indicating thatthe data is ready for downloading.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein thedetermining a non-delivery reason from at least two reasons and thetransmitting a transmission status message to the first communicationsunit are performed in a single node of the communications network. 9.The method of claim 1 wherein the determining a non-delivery reason fromat least two reasons is performed on a first node in the communicationsnetwork and the transmitting a transmission status message to the firstcommunications unit is performed in a second node of the communicationsnetwork.
 10. The method of claim 7 wherein the determining anon-delivery reason from at least two reasons further comprisesdetermining that an acknowledgement from the second communications unitof the message indicating that the data is ready for downloading wasreceived by the switching arrangement and that an acknowledgment ofreceipt of the data was not received from the second communicationsunit.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the data is transmitted via aMultimedia Messaging Service using a Wireless Application Protocol. 12.A switching arrangement for handling data having multimedia contenttransmitted from a first communications unit to a second communicationsunit in a communications network, the switching arrangement comprising:a first apparatus which determines, in the event that the data has notbeen delivered to the second communications unit, a non-delivery reasonfrom at least two reasons, wherein the at least two reasons are that theswitching arrangement could not deliver the data to the secondcommunications unit and that the data could be delivered to the secondcommunications unit but was not received by the second communicationunit; and a second apparatus which transmits a transmission statusmessage to the first communications unit, the transmission statusmessage indicating, based upon the determining, the non-delivery reason.13. The switching arrangement of claim 12 wherein the first apparatusfurther determines whether the data was not delivered to the secondcommunications unit within a period of validity.
 14. The switchingarrangement of claim 12 wherein the first apparatus further transmits arecipient notification message to the second communications unit anddetermines whether the recipient notification message was acknowledgedby the second communications unit.
 15. The switching arrangement methodof claim 14 wherein the determining a non-delivery reason from at leasttwo reasons further comprises determining whether correct receipt of thedata sent to the second communications unit was not acknowledged by thesecond communications unit.
 16. The switching arrangement of claim 12wherein the first apparatus is located on a first node in thecommunications network and the second apparatus is located on a secondnode in the communications network.
 17. The switching arrangement ofclaim 12 wherein the first apparatus further determines whether correctreceipt of the data sent to the second communications unit wasacknowledged by the second communications unit.
 18. The switchingarrangement of claim 12 wherein the first apparatus further transmits amessage to the second communications unit indicating that the data isready for downloading.
 19. The switching arrangement of claim 18 whereinthe first apparatus further determines that the data could not bedelivered to the second communications unit when an acknowledgement fromthe second communications unit of the message indicating that the datais ready for downloading was not received.
 20. The switching arrangementof claim 18 wherein the first apparatus determines that that the datacould be delivered to the second communications unit but was notreceived by the second communication when an acknowledgement from thesecond communications unit of the message indicating that the data isready for downloading was received and the data was not retrieved by thesecond communications unit prior to the end of a validity period. 21.The switching arrangement method of claim 18 wherein the first apparatusdetermines that the data could be delivered to the second communicationsunit but was not received by the second communication unit when anacknowledgement from the second communications unit of the messageindicating that the data is ready for downloading was received and anacknowledgment of receipt of the data was not received from the secondcommunications unit.